One step closer to 1984

So, how long do you think it will be before US citizens are wearing cages on their heads with rats in them?

…the Republicans are the party of torture, indefinite and unreviewable detention powers, and limitless presidential power, even over U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. By contrast, Democrats have opposed these tyrannical, un-American and truly dangerous measures. [Source]

Has our Senate absolutely lost their collective minds?!

During the debate on his amendment, Arlen Specter said that the bill sends us back 900 years because it denies habeas corpus rights and allows the President to detain people indefinitely. He also said the bill violates core Constitutional protections. Then he voted for it. [Source]

"I am a vegetarian. I’ll have my New York strip medium rare please." Could it be his meds were off and he couldn’t differentiate the YES button from the NO button? Or is Arlen Specter just that smug that he would brag about taking our country down.

When George Bush came into office I joked that his motives were to bring back his daddy’s Cold War and he has made good inroads to doing just that! What I did not realize is GW’s fascination with the Middle Ages. Apparently his sights are set in traveling further back in time than I had ever considered.

There is more in "Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215-2006)":

It leaves the president with the power to decide who is an enemy combatant.
This bill is not a national security issue—this is about torturing helpless human beings without any proof they are our enemies. Perhaps this could be considered if we knew the administration would use the power with enormous care and thoughtfulness. But of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only 10 have ever been formally charged with anything.
[Source]

Expect more statements in the news like: The "heart attack" came after he had been beaten so often on this legs that they had "basically been pulpified," according to the coroner. Or not. I suppose the administration probably has some clause that for security reasons the public never needs to know about torturees.

Where will this stop? Is a person that cannot pay their taxes worthy of torture? What about death row? Or better, what about people we suspect maybe, might, have had something to do or perhaps some information on a crime?

Oh! We can stop giving our kids Ritalin. Let’s bring back corpal punishment. Nothing quite like a big armed principal with a wood paddle with holes drilled in it to keep the kids in line.

This bill that passed is a revised version that excludes several "safe guards" from the original bill.

In another change, a clause said that evidence obtained outside the United States could be admitted in court even if it had been gathered without a search warrant. But the bill now drops the words “outside the United States,” which means prosecutors can ignore American legal standards on warrants. [Source]

Right now I am sure many short sighted people are thinking that this bill only applies to the war effort and making our country safer. It is a short leap from applying this bill to the American people.

The bill also expands the definition of an unlawful enemy combatant to cover anyone who has "has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." Quick, define "purposefully and materially." One person has already been charged with aiding terrorists because he sold a satellite TV package that includes the Hezbollah network. [Source]

Could the opinions I state in this blog make me an enemy combatant? If I chidingly state that we live in Amerika can I anticipate O’Brien to pound down my door and take me away?

As Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, wrote, an intelligence service free to torture soon "degenerates into a playground for sadists." But not unbridled sadism—you will be relieved that the compromise took out the words permitting interrogation involving "severe pain" and substituted "serious pain," which is defined as "bodily injury that involves extreme physical pain." [Source]

We are living it folks. Bush is a sadist. He will say anything to get his way.

In July 2003, George Bush said in a speech: "The United States is committed to worldwide elimination of torture, and we are leading this fight by example. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes, whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit." [Source]

Other news discusses Losing the War, Winning a Police State with Bush Co.’s Widespread Warnings, Fanned Fears, NSA Wire Taps, Expanded Powers, and War on Iran.